Secret of the Pipe Maze (2006 Series)
Secret of the Pipe Maze is the seventh episode of Super Mario Bros. Z. It was released on October 1, 2008. Plot At Bowser's Castle, Kamek comes to Bowser's throne room being guarded by two Koopatrols, requesting to speak with him. The Koopatrols, however, say that no one should enter the room, because Bowser is having a temper tantrum after his defeat in Episode 2. Kamek insists on entering until Kammy returns from a vacation, to Kamek's surprise. She tells him to go mess up his tidy room while she lets herself in in his stead. Despite being immediately charred by Bowser's fire, Kammy relays information that the Koopa Bros. have "turned in their shells", leading Bowser to believe that they are abandoning him. However, Kammy corrects him, saying that in actuality they were destroyed along with the rest of Yoshi's Island by a "spiky blue robot". She then says that Mario, Sonic, and Shadow are searching for gems called "Chaos Emeralds". Bowser is then shocked by this, and then says to himself that the "old man's stories" were true. Bowser then calls upon his children, the Koopalings, saying that they're taking a trip to the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser Jr. then excitingly says that they're going on vacation, but Bowser yells at them saying that they're not and orders them to get going. Bowser then says he needs to check on his "Secret Project", leaving Kammy confused. In a lab, a scientist greets Bowser and shows him a massive ship, named the "Omega Doomship", telling him that it's fully functional. Bowser tells him to get it ready because they'll be heading for the Mushroom Kingdom in an hour. The scientist, panicking, says that they might not have defence against a possible attack. Bowser then tells him that Mario is searching for the Chaos Emeralds and won't be there to defend the kingdom. The Scientist sulks, agreeing with his order. Bowser then asks about his secret weapon, and the scientist presses an oversized button, which reveals his latest creation, Mecha Mario. Meanwhile, the Heroes travel to the Pipe Maze and Mario checks the Emerald Radar, showing that there is a Chaos Emerald beneath the ground. They contact E. Gadd asking if they could have some help. E. Gadd explains that the Pipe Maze is a set of underground passageways and tunnels that go under the Mushroom Kingdom. He also says that some people can be lost forever. Luigi then panics and imagines himself as a very old man, lost in the passageways and starts to cry in fear, but E. Gadd reassures him that he was only joking. E. Gadd then sends out Stuffwell from his laboratory to the Pipe Maze, and he lands on top of Luigi. Stuffwell greets the heroes, and inquires about where Luigi is. Luigi pops out of the ground and gets mad at Stuffwell, who quizes how he and Luigi keep meeting like this. Luigi pulls out his hammer to attack Stuffwell, but Mario intervenes and pounds Luigi into the ground with his own hammer. Stuffwell then calculates which Warp Pipe they needed to go into, through a process of elimination, the heroes then jump in. Shortly after, the Wario Bros. arrive with the Radar Radar in hand, and follow down the same pipe the heroes went down. In the Pipe Maze, Stuffwell explains about the Pipe Maze, and how the secret passageways work with different pipes, until Shadow then angrily orders Stuffwell to tell where the Emerald is. Stuffwell apologizes and tells Mario to use the Emerald Radar. Mario pulls out the Radar and looks at it, but the Emerald Radar shows that it's picking up at least 30 Chaos Emeralds. Stuffwell then states that it may be the reflective nature of the pipes, and it must lead to a certain spot in the Pipe Maze. Shadow gets frustrated and starts to leave to look for it by himself. Sonic then stops him for a moment, but he leaves regardless. Sonic tells Yoshi and Luigi to follow him to keep watch on him. Stuffwell then says that they need to leave in the other direction, and says "BACK TO ADVENTURE!!!". Sonic then asks Mario if he says this all the time, Mario confirms this. Soon after, Wario and Waluigi enter and a little montage begins as they try to thwart the heroes, but their efforts, ranging from a Petey Pirahna costume to Bob-ombs, fail until they attempt to follow Mario, but they run into the Banana Bomb, who blows them out of the maze, landing on top of Hal and Jeff from the sprite series Bowser's Kingdom, who were arguing. In the maze, Mario, Sonic, and Stuffwell come across another dead end. Sonic is ticked, while Stuffwell states that he is picking up the Emerald somewhere around that spot, which possibly means it's behind the wall. Mario prepares to smash the wall, but Stuffwell suggests looking for another way, as the ceiling could collapse. He starts to say his "BACK TO ADVENTURE!!!" line but is cut off by Sonic, who asks him to stop saying that. Stuffwell apologizes, and they start to leave. Suddenly, a rumble is heard, but Stuffwell doesn't notice it. Sonic soon shrugs it off and the two start moving, however, Mario instead gazes up at the ceiling and gets suspicious. Suddenly, a large hole appears, and Mario panics. He runs toward Sonic and Stuffwell and pushes them out of the way before a mystery entity crashes down on them. Sonic and Mario then watch the smoke from the blast as a shape emerges from it. Mecha Sonic zooms out of the smoke and socks Mario across the side of the face, launching him away, before aiming and firing a rocket launcher at Sonic. The two engage in battle, with Mario aiding as best he could. The fight reaches a head when the hedgehog and his doppelgänger use a Light Speed Attack. Eventually, Mecha Sonic smashes Sonic through the wall from before, revealing a secret room with a pipe. Mecha Sonic then chokes him, demanding where the stolen Emeralds are. Sonic refuses to answer, causing Mecha Sonic to then take out his machine gun to blast him, but is pounded into the ground by Mario. Mario then helps Sonic and both jump into a pipe that was behind the dead end wall. Mecha Sonic gets frustrated, and jumps in to get them. Stuffwell then hurries off to find the others. In another world, Sonic and Mario are underwater. Sonic starts to drown, so Mario helps him and pulls him out of the water. The two land and notice the change in their appearance before deciding it would be best to keep going. After some running, the two then hear voices, and then Goombella and Kolorado appear asking if it was a rescue party sent by Professor Frankley. Sonic and Mario stare blankly, and then Kolorado asks if they were just people to be stuck there for an eternity. Kolorado then explains the nature of the Minus World and how he and Goombella came as part of an archelogical dig before being trapped. Luckily, they end up having the Chaos Emerald, which they hand over to Mario. Mario and Sonic then continue to look for a way out, only to find a pipe that had been tried before. Back in the maze, Yoshi and Luigi catch up to Shadow, and all three are visited by Stuffwell, who explains what's happened and leads them to the pipe. In the Minus World, Mecha Sonic catches up with Mario and Sonic and the three engage in battle. Despite a Cape Feather boost for Mario, Mecha Sonic obtains their Chaos Emerald and attempts to escape the Minus World curse with Chaos Control, only to find it doesn't work. While Sonic is initially happy that at least Mecha Sonic is trapped forever, his counterpart is not and decides to kill them both. In the maze, the others arrive at the location of the pipe, where Stuffwell recieves a transmission from E.Gadd, joined by Prof. Frankley, who explain the history of the Minus World to the others. Shadow is unimpressed and decides to go in anyway, unaware of the lack of effect Chaos Control has in the world. He jumps in and Yoshi prepares to follow, but Luigi is unwilling to take the risk, so Yoshi goes in alone. In the Minus World, Mario and Sonic are at Mecha Sonic's mercy. Kolorado and Goombella manage to stall for time when Shadow arrives and assaults Mecha Sonic with a combo, recovering the Emerald. Yoshi arrives just as Shadow discovers Chaos Control has no effect. Regardless, the four resume battle against Mecha Sonic. Back in the maze, empowered by his love for his brother, Luigi takes his chances and leaps into the Minus World, only to be instantly surrounded by Bloopers. As the four heroes do battle, Goombella and Kolorado ponder their options when Luigi accidentally lands on Kolorado, causing him to drop his stopwatch, which releases a burst of energy that negates the Minus World energy and removes the curse. However, as E. Gadd quickly informs them, the effects is only temporary and everyone ends up fleeing in time, despite Mecha Sonic's best attempts. Once out, Shadow warps them the heroes away with Chaos Control before Mecha Sonic attempts to destroy them, taking out a large chunk of the Pipe Plains. Now at Mario's house, Frankly explains the Subcon energy in the stopwatch was what negated the Minus World energy. Kolorado and Goombella then set out for the Shyguy Desert to work on repairing the watch. Luigi then informs the others that smoke is coming from the castle. Toadsworth then runs up and reveals that Bowser has once again kidnapped Princess Peach. Trivia * When Stuffwell arrived from E-Gadd's Laboratory, he fell on Luigi squishing him, referencing the beginning of Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. * This episode is the second episode to feature the Banana Bomb shouting "I LIKE CEREAL!" * This episode was originally entitled as "'''Trapped Within Negative Space'"'' in the first preview. * The premise of the episode was provided by a fan, who suggested the idea of involving the minus world, as Alvin was unsure where to place the 5th Chaos Emerald. ** Another fan offered to write a story around this idea. This fan was kept on to help with dialogue in episode 8.https://twitter.com/AlvinSmbz/status/1224864670441492480 * This episode is the longest so far. On YouTube, it had a total length of over one hour and six minutes. It also mostly consists of dialog unlike Episode 6 which was mostly fighting scenes. * The Koopa and the Goomba that Wario and Waluigi fell on top of after being blasted out of the maze were Hal and Jeff from the flash series'' "Bowser's Kingdom".'' * Due to Hal and Jeff's appearance, this marks the first time where actual Voice Actor dialogue from characters have appeared in an episode. This is also the first episode to feature bleep censorship. * Sonic performs a Hurricane Kick, which is used by Ryu, Ken, and Akuma in the Street Fighter series, against Mecha Sonic while battling in the Pipe Maze. * This is the second episode in a row that the "It's over 9000!" line was referenced (Goombella referenced the line in regards to Mecha Sonic's power level). The first time was during Episode 6 when Axem Red used the scouter on him. When Kolorado points out that the "over 9000" line was used in the previous episode, Goombella remarks that no one would remember that that had happened because of the large period of time between the two episodes. * During the Mecha Sonic vs. Sonic and Mario battle, Sonic attempts to punch Mecha Sonic, which is unusual as he usually uses his legs. However, instead of the desired result, Mecha instead grabs Sonic's arm, rams him into the floor, and knocks him back. * This is the only episode where Princess Peach has not appeared, though she is mentioned at the end and beginning. * During the latter part of the Minus World fight, Mecha Sonic quotes Perfect Cell's line of "You all just want to die, don't you?! Well all you had to do was ask!" * The Minus World is actually a glitch in the original 1985 Super Mario Bros. game, but unlike the movie the Minus World in the game was an underwater stage that went on forever, in the game and in SMBZ, it was actually called World 36. * Although the series is non-canon (meaning it has no influence to the Mario or Sonic games), this is actually the first time Bowser Jr. AND the Koopalings appeared all together. The eight siblings eventually appeared (canonically) in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii''. * This is the first and so far only episode to break the fourth wall thrice. First was before Professor Frankley told the story of the Minus World, he told everyone to listen "especially you, right in front of the computer,". Obviously reffering to the viewer (and is in itself a reference to Chapter 5 of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, where Professor Frankley and Four-eyes/Lord Crump recited a similar fourth wall break at certain points.). The second was in the Minus World when Kolorado told Goombella that the "OVER 9000!" joke had been referenced in the previous episode released one year ago. Finally, the third instance was also in the Minus World where Kolorado told Mario that the Legend of Zelda item grab for the fifth Chaos Emerald was from the wrong video game series, making Sonic flinch and fall off the edge of the screen in confusion. * While in the Minus World, there is a status bar at the top of the screen, similar to that of Super Mario Bros 1. ''However, it appears to simply be a cosmetic feature that has no real purpose, as Mario's score never goes up, even when he collects a power up. * This episode marks the first tme Goombella swears, when Mecha Sonic first arrives in the Minus World, Goombella calls him Sugar Honey Ice Tea to avoid the censor word. * The loading scenes that involved the camera moving down a pipe in a darkened area is a homage to the famous loading sequences in the [[wikipedia:Resident Evil|''Resident Evil]] games, which involved a door in the middle of a inky-dark room, the door would open, and player will enter the room behind the door. * Bowser Jr.'s sprites are technically sprites for Baby Bowser in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. * Shadow's statement of not being a lab rat is quite ironic, as he was originally created in a laboratory for a science project to create immortality. * Sonic's statement of that if Mecha Sonic were to kill him and Mario then he would be trapped in the Minus World on his own are similar to what Piccolo said to Majin Buu that killing him and Gotenks would leave him trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber on his own. Unlike Buu, who quickly breaks out because there's no sweets in the chamber, Mecha Sonic quickly decides that he would rather be stuck alone then be trapped with Sonic and Mario. * This is the first episode to utilize a Dragon Ball Z-style intro that features an explanation of the previous episode. This would later appear for Episode 8. *When Stuffwell asks Luigi if he is going to help in the Minus World, Luigi replaces himself with a cut-out of Weegee, a popular internet meme from "Mario is Missing" on the PC. *When Luigi was scared of being trapped in the Pipe Maze, there was a sign saying "Lost" and "VERY Lost". Coincidentally, they appeared in the maze itself. *Bowser's comment about the Omega Doomship containing an entire legion of his best troops is a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. *Alvin stated to have no plans of including this episode in the series reboot, as it is too dialogue heavy, spouted unnecessary exposition that had no bearing on the plot, and considered Kolorado's stopwatch to be a ridiculous Deus Ex Machina moment. While he praised the 8-bit sprites, he felt that they could not save the episode, Alvin said to a user on a deviantart post that the episode will be replaced by the King Boo Arc. Characters * Mario * Luigi * Yoshi * Sonic the Hedgehog * Shadow the Hedgehog * Mecha Sonic * Bowser * Dr. Eggman * Kamek * Kammy * The Koopalings * Wario * Waluigi * Professor E. Gadd * Stuffwell * Professor Kolorado * Goombella * Professor Frankly * Mecha Mario * Princess Peach (mentioned) * Queen Pesca 7 (mentioned) * Toad Fighters (mentioned) * Koopa Troopa Fighters (mentioned) * Bauzire (mentioned) * Bloopers * Koopatrol * Banana Bomb * Hal (cameo) (Bowser's Kingdom) * Jeff (cameo) (Bowser's Kingdom) Transformations *8-Bit Mario *8-Bit Cape Mario *8-Bit Luigi *8-Bit Sonic *8-Bit Shadow *8-Bit Mecha Sonic *8-Bit Kolorado *8-Bit Goombella *8-Bit Bloopers Category:Episodes (2006 Series) Category:Non-Canon